The standard clothes dryer is a common device within the home in which a great deal of energy is wasted when its warm exhaust is vented outside the home. The current concern for more efficient use of energy has prompted various inventions relating to energy conservation.
It would be desirable, in light of the high cost of energy, to utilize the heat exhausted by the dryer to warm the home during cold weather. However, most filters used in the exhaust of clothes dryers are designed only to remove large particles. Since small particles and dust are not filtered, the air is not suitable for discharge into the home. Therefore, an exhaust duct is typically connected to the dryer's exhaust port to conduct the air exhaust outside the home.
The addition of conventional filtering to the dryer exhaust system results in unacceptable back-pressure while failing to satisfactorily remove dust particles from the exhaust air. Further, even if such a filter were acceptable, it is desirable to discharge the hot exhaust air into the home only in the colder winter months. Accordingly, it would be necessary to change the exhaust ducting from in-home exhaust to outside exhaust when approaching summer and back to in-home exhaust when again nearing winter.
This invention provides an improvement over previous clothes dryer exhaust filtering systems by providing more effective filtering, greater convenience, and easy adjustment of the amount of conditioned are entering the home. Additionally, it humidifies the clothes dryer exhaust air. Humidification is desirable since winter air and conventional home heating systems often produce a very dry atmosphere within the home during the winter months.